


sunrise.

by megaeras



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, vaginal sex & choking., zenos is not nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:34:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29110905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megaeras/pseuds/megaeras
Summary: nei has to face the consequences of accepting zenos at the royal menagerie.
Relationships: Zenos yae Galvus/Original Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 11





	sunrise.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zenospenos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenospenos/gifts).



> this was a commission for a friend who asked for zenos and her lovely wol nei akagane

There is a chill in the air; Ala Mhigo is colder than one would believe it to be, especially at night. Nei doesn’t mind, however. She simply stands there in the corner of the room, wrapped in nothing but a blanket. The royal palace of Ala Mhigo seems eerily quiet now, after the raging storm of battle had died down.

_Yes, I made the right decision._

She recalls the look everyone had given her when she had walked away from them, when she had accepted Zenos earlier that day. The betrayal and anger in the several pairs of eyes watching her had been apparent… but did she _truly_ care? Indeed, had she ever actually cared about those people? What had they done except used her as a pawn in a game she had no part in until she was dragged into it? The only reason they feel so _betrayed_ is because they hate the thought of losing such a valuable tool. That’s all she’s ever been, after all. Just a tool, an asset, a figurehead for their operations. They’ve never seen her as a person.  
But _he_ does… right?  
He who had reached out to her as if he saw her as an equal.

_An equal._

Not that she could ever be an equal to someone like him, right? An equal to Zenos yae Galvus? No. But she’s happy to bask in his company.

Nei is lost in her own thoughts when Zenos himself walks into the room, interrupting her by touching her shoulder.

“A-ah?”

She squeaks; the sudden touch had startled her, and she turns to look up at him. He’s tall… so much taller than her.

“How quickly you decided to abandon your so-called _friends_ ,” he muses. “It almost looked as though you barely even needed to contemplate your decision. Mayhap that’s a good thing… decisiveness is always a good trait. What point is there in mulling over decisions instead of simply taking the appropriate action.”

A philosophical discussion isn’t exactly what she had expected, to be quite honest. Yet here they are.

“Y-yes… I- I suppose that’s true,” is her simple reply. The Auri girl crosses the room to sit down on the edge of the bed, gazing out the window into the night. The skies are clear, and she can see the stars.  
Zenos joins her, studying her with a rather unreadable look in his eye.

“…You left Garlemald and fled to Eorzea, yet here you are right now. Why would that be?”

“I- I just-”

His hand cups her face, forcing her to look at him with that wide-eyed stare of hers.

“I thought… possibly, y-your offer was better th-than staying there with them. I- I don't belong there… They’ve never seen me as one of them.”

“And you thought I felt differently?” is his reply, which earns a meek nod from the girl. Nei doesn’t quite look him in the eye, despite his fingers still grasping at her chin and tilting her head up.

“Look at me,” he growls. _“Look at me.”_

Oh, how he hates when his prey doesn’t humour him. How he hates when they don’t fight back. But she was so willing to join him, to follow him… how peculiar. Is there really any other savage who would have done the same in her position? Ah, but she _did_ leave Garlemald for Eorzea, so… is this her changing her mind once again?

Not that he cares about Garlemald, or Eorzea, for that matter. He’d said as much earlier that day.

Nei stays quiet, finally bringing herself to make eye contact with Zenos. There’s something intimidating about his eyes… a definite madness that lies within them, almost inhuman. The usual warm spark that lies within the eyes of most people, signaling their humanity and their soul, is nowhere to be seen in _his_ eyes.

It’s frightening.

It’s frightening but… she doesn’t mind. Not really. If she leans just a little closer, she could…

_She could…_

It’s him that ends up taking the plunge, roughly nipping at her lip to draw blood, licking at the crimson liquid and savouring its metallic taste.

Nei whimpers.

And then, out of nowhere, she speaks. What exactly possessed her to say these words, she’ll never truly understand, but she says them nonetheless. Mayhap she just wants to feel something.

“I- I th-think… I would like for you to choke me,” she whimpers.

Zenos remains silent, his free hand raising up to touch at her throat, fingers feeling her pulse, her very life force. Right there, beneath his fingertips. How effortless it would be for him to snap her neck, or tear her throat out… but that would only provide a mere moment of gratification, right?  
And then his grip tightens, cutting off her air supply. She wheezes, her smaller hands resting atop his larger one. After a few moments, he releases his hold, allowing her to take precious air into her lungs.

“A-a signal… some sort of signal,” she gasps. “If I tap your arm l-like this…”

Nei taps on his forearm, three consecutive times.

“...I w-want you to stop.”

“Very well,” is Zenos’ answer. He sees no reason to make her suffer. Not for now, anyway.  
And then she opens her mouth again.

“...And, uh, I would- I would like-”

“Hmm…?”

“I w-want you.”

 _Ah_. He wasn’t expecting that. _She wants him to choke her… and fuck her?_

Off comes Zenos’ shirt. Followed by the rest of his clothes. He looms over Nei, who simply settles down on the bed and blinks up at him. She had after all been naked underneath the blanket, which now lies on the floor.  
Suddenly and roughly, he forces himself into her, causing Nei to scream out. No, he’s not one to be gentle or understanding. His hand once again takes hold of her throat in a vicelike grip as he begins rutting into her, a beastlike snarl twisting his lips.

Tears are pricking at the corners of Nei’s eyes, caused by a mixture of pain and pleasure. Pain is pleasure to her in some ways.

Even if he doesn’t actually care about her, even if he’s just doing this because he’s _bored_ … that doesn’t matter to her.

The room fills with the sound of skin slapping against skin, Zenos’ animalistic growls, and Nei’s wheezing. He’s relentless with her, not really showing any sign of giving a damn about what she can and can’t withstand.  
How frail and small she is… once again he finds himself musing about how simple it would be to snap her in twain. Part of him actually considers it. But he doesn’t do it, instead choosing to continue fucking her.  
The madness in his eyes grows and grows as time passes, becoming even more obvious the more he thrusts in and out.

The feeling of his cock inside her warmth, combined with her wheezed gasps and moans as she struggles to breathe, is… delicious. Mayhap he’ll keep her around-

A sudden grunt escapes his lips as he spills his seed inside her, wordlessly withdrawing once he’s finished. No aftercare does he offer; no, he simply glances down at her and gets dressed once more, exiting the room and leaving Nei on the bed.

And as for Nei herself?

She doesn’t mind.

It’s not long before she drifts off to sleep, and Zenos returns to find her curled up, still a complete mess. Too tired to clean herself off?

That can wait until morning, then. Even he is not wont to wake a sleeping person, so he merely lays on the bed next to her, as sleepless as ever. Surely that same old nightmare would plague him if he did fall asleep.

A burning city… devastation and ruin and death.

He’s never understood quite what it means, and he tries to push the thought out of his mind by fetching a book to read.

Morning arrives by the time he’s done with the book, and he notes the sunlight beginning to filter into the room. Nei stirs some time after, and he offers her a noncommittal grunt when she says good morning.

“...You can take a bath if you wish, little beast. Come.”

He rises to his feet, offering a hand to guide her to where the baths are, simply standing by and watching her search for soap, shampoo, anything she can use to clean herself. He has been stationed here since Gaius van Baelsar’s unceremonious fall from grace, after all, and he certainly does take pride in his appearance… which may be surprising, considering he usually ends up covered in blood and dirt and other grime. When he casually mentions this to Nei, she laughs quietly.

He joins her in the bath, helping her to wash her hair as a small display of… not really affection, more of _‘I don’t mind you being here’._

Nei hums quietly as he continues washing her hair, then her body, cleaning her with as much care as he can be bothered to muster.

It’s hardly as though he’s the affectionate type, but he doesn’t dislike her company, so hopefully she understands this through his actions. Once she has been cleaned off, he wraps her in a huge Garlean-sized towel and notes with amusement how it makes her look even more fragile and tiny.

“A-ah… thankyou,” she squeaks, enjoying how soft the towel feels against her skin.

Another noncommittal grunt is earned in response.  
And then, “Shall we look at the outcome of yesterday’s chaos, my beast?”

He doesn’t give her much chance to respond, grabbing her hand and leading her out into the Royal Menagerie, the very same place where yesterday she had turned her back on Eorzea to walk down a path with no return.

The sun has risen on a new day, and it is harsh, and cold.

But she doesn’t mind.

The more she thinks about it, the more certain she is that she’s made the right decision by staying here, by turning her back on the Scions and on Eorzea. Yes, even though she was born in Doma, she only ever really belonged in Garlemald. And now there truly is no going back.

Well, as for Zenos, he feels… a little less bored than usual. He could possibly grow to enjoy her company, if she is indeed here to stay.

The two simply stand there, amongst the flowers, staring out at the view of Ala Mhigo from their vantage point. Yesterday’s battle had died down after Nei and Zenos had departed; after all, the Eorzean Alliance had taken a massive hit in terms of morale and power after losing the Warrior of Light.

Now all that would be left is to finally quash them once and for all. Them and their Resistance. Not that they provide any entertainment for him… it’s like letting a fox into the hen coop, or crushing an insect under your boot. A one-sided slaughter, not the epic battle he truly craves. But surely that will come at some point.  
He turns to look at Nei, a cruel glint in his eye when he opens his mouth to speak.

“You will have to cut down your former allies when they return to finish what they started,” he remarks coolly, as casually as if he were talking about the weather. Such matters are trivial to him, after all.  
And Nei knows what is bound to happen. Oh, yes, she knows full well what she will have to do.  
But that doesn’t faze her. Not really, not when he is the one telling her what he expects from her.

“You have turned traitor. I don’t doubt the news has already spread far and wide. But… I’m sure you are quite capable of dealing with them when the time comes. And I for one will enjoy watching you slaughter those fools.”

He laughs coldly, cupping her cheek with a hand as he stares down at her.

“Pray you do not disappoint me.”

“...I will not disappoint you.”


End file.
